Chinese Dynasty Miniature Paintings: Flowers and Birds Volume

Author: Cui Jin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-19
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An Overview of Miniature Flower-and-Bird Painting In the glorious and splendid history of Chinese painting, flower-and-bird painting is one of the three major painting genres, alongside landscape and figure painting. If we trace its reflection in the art history back to the plant-patterned pottery fragments unearthed from the Hemudu Neolithic Site in Yuyao, Zhejiang, its lineage can be traced back approximately 7,000 years. In painting literature, a group of flower-and-bird painters emerged during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties periods. Zhang Yanyuan's Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations from the Tang Dynasty provides us with a list and catalog of these painters and their works:
Jin Dynasty
- Sima Shao (Emperor Ming of Jin): Painted works such as Miscellaneous Birds and Beasts (No. 5), Miscellaneous Fearful Birds, and Miscellaneous Birds and Beasts.
- Gu Kaizhi: Painted Duck and Goose by Water, Waterfowl, and the Water Bird screen.
- Shi Daoshuo: Skilled in painting horses and geese, he created works like Geese.
- Xie Zhai: Painted Pure Companions.
- Gu Bao Guang: Painted Shooting Pheasants, Pure Peach Blossoms, and Roosters Fighting in Luozhong.
- Gu Jingxiu: His flower-and-bird works, such as Cicadas and Sparrows, were granted to the minister He Ji by Emperor Wu of the Southern Dynasties. Xie He said, "It was Jingxiu who first painted cicadas and sparrows on fans."
- Liu Yanzu: Skilled in painting cicadas and sparrows.
- Tao Jingzhen (Southern Dynasties): Painted Peafowl and Parrots.
This list and catalog indicate that flower-and-bird painting was showing signs of becoming an independent genre, though it was still immature. First, the subject matter was narrow, lacking flowers and birds, with most painters only able to depict bees, butterflies, cicadas, sparrows, eagles, and geese. Second, the painting techniques were still somewhat naive, with critics commenting that their works lacked "spirit and vigor," had "light and weak brushwork," and were "not meticulous but lacked vitality." In fact, this is the true state of flower-and-bird painting during its incubation period.
As for the history of miniature painting, I haven’t conducted serious research, but I know that fans are particularly suitable for miniature painting. Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations cites Xie He, who believed that Gu Jingxiu of the Southern Dynasties was the earliest to paint cicadas and sparrows on fans. This is the earliest recorded flower-and-bird miniature painting. From this, we can conclude that flower-and-bird painters during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties periods already possessed strong modeling skills and generally emphasized the accuracy of form.
Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations records:
- Liu Yanzu's "cicadas and sparrows are particularly exquisite."
- Gao Xiaoheng once painted a blue eagle in a hall, so much so that onlookers mistook it for real. Crows and sparrows dared not approach."
- Liu Shaogui painted fighting sparrows on a wall, and the emperor thought they were alive until he brushed them away and realized they were paintings."
These records tell us that during the incubation period of flower-and-bird painting becoming an independent genre, realism was the criterion. This aesthetic taste paved the way for the development of meticulous flower-and-bird painting in the Tang and Song dynasties.
In the Tang Dynasty, flower-and-bird painting gradually evolved from being a background and complement to figure painting into an independent genre. From the early and mid-Tang murals, we can see that flowers and birds were still supplementary to figure painting. However, the changes in the subject matter of figure painting during this period brought opportunities for the development of flower-and-bird painting.
When the Tang Dynasty was first established, paintings with strong political colors and those depicting the images of founding heroes were clearly more valued than religious paintings. As the mid-Tang flourished, the content of figure painting expanded again to include people's daily lives and emphasized the depiction of inner emotions. Figure painting shifted from solemnity and dignity to a more lively and humorous direction, providing opportunities for landscape and flower-and-bird painting. Therefore, flower-and-bird painting (including those in figure painting) saw significant improvement in the early Tang Dynasty.
During the early and mid-Tang periods, many figure painters were also skilled in flower-and-bird painting, and a group of flower-and-bird painters with considerable talent emerged. Among them were nobles such as Li Yuanchang and Li Yuanying, who were renowned for painting eagles, hawks, bees, and butterflies; officials and artists serving in the imperial court, such as Dou Shilun, Yin Zhongrong, Xue Ji, Feng Shaozheng, and Jiang Jiao; and ethnic minority painters like Kang Saduo, who integrated frontier aesthetics with traditional Chinese culture, enriching the content and techniques of flower-and-bird painting. Unfortunately, none of their works have survived to this day. However, contemporary art historians and famous poets described the styles of several renowned flower-and-bird painters.
Xue Ji (649–713) was a painter with comprehensive artistic in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and also one of the Tang Dynasty's most accomplished flower-and-bird painters. His eldest son pioneered six-panel crane screens, which became highly popular. The poet Du Fu wrote in On the Wall Behind the Fishing House in Tongquan County, "Xue Gong’s eleven cranes, all painted true to the Qingtan style, their colors fading yet still transcending the mundane. Each crane’s posture is distinct, like towering figures." Du Fu’s poem summarizes the characteristics of Xue Ji’s works: realistic yet not rigid, with each crane depicted in its own unique manner. Xue Ji didn’t paint cranes just for the sake of painting cranes; rather, he used them to express his subjective feelings, comparing them to transcendent "towering figures" and opening up the lyrical depth of flower-and-bird painting.
Jiang Jiao was an expert in painting eagles and served as the Minister of Court Music and was enfeoffed as Duke of Chu. Du Fu wrote a poem titled On Jiang Chu Gong’s Painted Eagle, from which we learn that Jiang Jiao’s paintings were highly realistic. "This eagle’s realism is left in the brocade," and because he painted the eagle with both spirit and form, "sparrows and swallows in the rafters fear to approach, all eager to soar to the heavens."
Additionally, theorists recorded the styles of several flower-and-bird painters:
- Liu Xiaoshi: His birds and sparrows were extraordinary, remarkably lifelike.
- Kang Saduo: His flowers and late leaves transformed in myriad ways, with exotic beasts and rare birds in countless forms.
- Feng Shaozheng: His eagles, hawks, chickens, and pheasants were depicted in their true forms, with every detail of beaks, eyes, claws, and feathers masterfully rendered.
From these descriptions and critiques, we can infer that Tang Dynasty flower-and-bird painting had become increasingly mature. Especially notable was "the flower-and-bird painter of the generation" (as recorded in Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations), Bian Luan, who served during the reigns of Emperor Daizong and Emperor Dezong (762–805) of the Tang Dynasty. He was renowned for his "painting skills that excelled in the era, particularly in flower-and-bird painting, capturing the vitality of living creatures." During Emperor Dezong’s reign, the kingdom of Goryeo presented peafowls and skilled dancers, and Bian Luan was summoned to paint them. Beyond the colorful and vibrant decorations, Bian Luan captured their graceful movements, as if in rhythm, earning Mi Fu’s praise: "Bian’s paintings are as alive as real birds."
Bian Luan’s flower-and-bird paintings were not only lifelike but also pioneered the technique of branch painting—"a technique previously unseen in antiquity." Branch painting involves depicting only the most aesthetically pleasing parts of flowers and plants, thereby highlighting the distinctive characteristics of flower-and-bird painting. The emergence of branch painting was a significant milestone in the transition of flower-and-bird painting from a supplementary role to an independent genre.
The themes of Bian Luan’s works, aside from rich and luxurious exotic birds and flowers, included "mountain gardens and vegetables, all meticulously depicted" (Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations), indicating that flower-and-bird painters of this period began to focus on life studies in nature, enriching the subject matter of flower-and-bird painting and even influencing its techniques and style.
From the late Tang to the early Five Dynasties, Teng Changyou and Cao Guangyin took flower-and-bird painting to an even more mature level after Bian Luan. Teng Changyou "planted flowers, bamboo, to observe the prosperity and decline of plants," so he "gradually achieved lifelikeness in his brushwork after time" (Xuanhe Painting Catalog). His works were characterized by "prioritizing lifelikeness," "depicting each according to its type, and imitating life" (Record of Famous Paintings of Sichuan). His branch paintings were highly similar to Bian Luan’s. Cao Guangyin, who fled with Emperor Zhaozong to Shu, was a diligent painter who "never rested with his brush for over thirty years, only taking rest when ill or old" (Record of Famous Paintings of Sichuan). His works were described as "exquisitely refined" (Record of Famous Paintings Seen and Heard), belonging to the meticulous and vibrant style.